chronic diarrhea in a 1 year 6 months child

Question

Hello,
My son is 1.5 years old and he has many stools (1-2, max 3 per day but this is very rarely) about 6 months. What tests should I make for the diagnosis? I mention that bacteriological examinations were negative. Often chlamydospores of Candida occured in the stool. Stool aspect is pasty brown.

Answer

Dear questioner,
This site is designed for questions of cystic fibrosis patients.
In CF, diarrhea occurs in form of massive, fatty, bad smelling stools, as fat absorption from the bowel is impaired and the nutritional fat appears in the stool. As a consequence, children show poor weight gain and growth. As also the lungs are involved, frequent cough and bronchitis occur. Only the whole clinical picture raises the suspicion for CF (which can be tested for by a sweat test), not diarrhea alone, which can have many other causes.
Therefore, in order to establish the diagnosis, further investigations for your child's problem should be recommended by a pediatrician after a consultation. Therefore please take your child to a gastroeneterologist pediatrician.
Sincerely yours,
Prof. Pop

25.06.2012